While the PlayStation 4 was crowned best-selling console for June 2017, it looks like the Nintendo Switch is usurping the throne from Sony Interactive Entertainment's current-generation console for this month. According to new data from the market analysts at the NPD Group, the Big N's latest system managed to beat out both the PS4 and Xbox One to take the top spot as the best-selling console for July 2017.
Although no concrete numbers were shared by the NPD Group when it comes to actual sales of the Nintendo Switch, the market research firm asserted that one of the major reasons why the console outsold the PS4 and Xbox One was due to the release of the team-based third-person shooter Splatoon 2, which became the best-selling game for July 2017. Another cause for the hardware's success stems from the fact that “three of the month’s top seven best-selling games are published by Nintendo,” with the Big N also being “the best-selling software publisher in July.”
Interestingly enough, it looks as if the Nintendo Switch has also helped rouse the numbers on hardware spending since its launch back in March, for as the NPD Group's Mat Piscatella explains, "Year to date, hardware spending has grown 20 percent versus 2016 to $1.6 billion. Performance of the Nintendo Switch continues to be the primary cause of the year-on-year gains." Nevertheless, while the Switch has been selling like hotcakes, Sony's system has a decided edge over all of its competitors, as "PlayStation 4 is the best-selling hardware platform year to date," with the console having sold more than 63.3 million units already.
Additionally, the NPD Group found that even though sales of accessories were down in June, an uptick occurred in July, with the month seeing growth of 9% in the sector thanks to both Nintendo and Microsoft. According to Piscatella, "Accessories for the Nintendo Switch and Microsoft’s Xbox One drove spending growth. Gamepads were the top-selling accessory types for both platforms."
Taking all of this into consideration, it will be interesting to see if Nintendo Switch will be able to consecutively become the best-selling console for two months in a row, and it has a shot of doing just that should the company keep up with the demand for the system by maintaining a steady supply for store shelves. Not to mention, with the unique-looking exclusive Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle set to drop for the console at the end of August, the Switch could very well retain its current position as the king of the hill.
The Nintendo Switch is available now.
Source: VentureBeat